(L-R) front row: Their Royal Highnesses the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess; middle row: Mathias Lentz, Director; Frédéric de Radigues, Director General; back row: Georges Lentz, Managing Director; Isabelle Lentz, marketing, Munhowen; Credit: Kangkan Halder

On Wednesday 8 December 2021, their Royal Highnesses the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess visited the National Brewery (Brasserie Nationale) in Bascharage in the municipality of Kaerjeng.

The Brasserie Nationale S.A. is a Luxembourg family business that produces and sells beers (Bofferding, Battin and Funck-Bricher) and recently Lodyss mineral water. The National Brewery was established in 1974 following a merger between two Luxembourgish breweries (Funck-Bricher founded in 1764 and Bofferding founded in 1842). The distribution of the entire National Brewery brand portfolio is handled by its subsidiary Munhowen S.A., the largest beverage distributor in the Greater Region. The Brasserie Nationale - Munhowen group, with a turnover (excluding excise duties) in 2020 exceeding €61.9 million, currently employs 253 people.

During this royal visit, Georges Lentz, Managing Director of Brasserie Nationale, welcomed the guests and presented the difficulties and opportunites for the National Brewery over the last two years.

While sales of European beers broke through the 400 million hectolitre (hl, equivalent to 100 litre) level in 2018 and 2019, sales are not expected to exceed 330 million hl in 2020, a drop of almost 20%.

Mathias Lentz, Director of Brasserie Nationale, added that the National Brewery produced 138,000 hl of beers and waters in 2020, a decrease of 19,000 hl from 2019. As for beer production, this fell by 47,200 hl to 110,500 hl (including a decrease of 39,900 hl of beer in barrels). Total turnover fell from €10.9 million to €8.9 million, a decrease of €2.0 million or 18%.

Despite the year being disrupted by the pandemic, the National Brewery has made several investments for growth. Lodyss mineral water was launhced in March 2020 and has since made sales of 2.8 million litres.

The withdrawal hall at the Lodyss well was modernised leading to improved hygienic conditions and water and energy savings, with an investment of €6.6 million.

The National Brewery also invested €350,000 in a new boiler, allowing energy savings of 15%.

Moreover, an experimental brewery launched recently with a capacity of 2.0 hl per brew. The inauguration of a microbrewery and tasting room is scheduled for the end of the first half of 2021.

Isabelle Lentz, representative of marketing, mentioned a drop of 22% in Munhowen turnover in 2020 to €61.95 million.

In terms of e-commerce activity, the drinx.lu website was launched to allow home delivery, including to offices, within 24 hours. The deliveries are free for orders of €100 or above.

The presentation was followed by a guided tour of the facilities and a beer tasting event.

Frédéric de Radiguès, CEO of the group, said: “2020 was a year of crisis and opportunity. An unprecedented crisis for all players in our sector. The National Brewery and Munhowen took advantage of this situation to question themselves in order to become more resilient and more competitive in the future".